Apparatus for depth measurement by echo reception methods



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A. J. HUGHES Aug. 27, 1940.

APPARATUS FOR DEPTH MEASUREMENT BY ECHO RECEPTION METHODS Filed NOV. l2, 1937 wm nm Patented Aug. 27, 1940 APPARATUS FOR DEPTH MEASUREMENT BY ECHO RECEPTION METHODS Arthur Joseph Hughes, Chigwell Row, England,

beneath the ship. Such apparatus, as is well and air-tight joint round the edge of the plate 2 5 known, generally includes a pair of electrically and at other points as hereinafter mentioned. operated oscillators of which one is the sound The casing is divided internally by transverse transmitter and the other picks up the received plates or bulkheads 6, 'I, 8 and 9 into ve comecho, although a single oscillator member which partments along its length. The plates B, 1, 8

10 sused alternately as the transmitter and reand 9 extend completelyr across the interior of 10 ceiver may be employed. The transmitter and the casing and are welded or otherwise suitably receiver or the combined transmitter-receiver are secured to the rounded wall of the casing I while generally attached to the inside of the skin of along their bottom edges 6', 1', 8', 9', the packa ship or loc-ated in tanks attached to the inner ing sheet 5 is pressed against them to form tight surface of the ships plating, but in some cases joints and seal oif the compartments flOm 011e 15 it is necessary for the oscillator or oscillators another. The first compartment IIJ extending t'obe'. carried out-board as soundings may be refrom the nose Illa of the casing to the bulkhead 6 quired in situations in which it is not possible is a buoyancy chamber and contains air; the to get the whole hull of the boat. Also, it has second compartment II between the plate 6 and been found that with the oscillators placed inthe plate 'Icontains atransmitting oscillator mem- 20 board in the bottom of a motor boat, as is reber and is lled with fresh water; the third comquired on certain occasions, the soundings are partment I2 between the plate 'l and the plate 8 liable to be blanketed by aeration set up when a contains air; the fourth compartment I3 between certain speed is reached. plate 8 and plate 9 contains a receiving oscillator l. The present invention consists in a unit adaptmember and is lled with fresh water; while 25 ed to be carried outboard from a ship and. comthe last compartment I4 extending from the plate prising transmitting and receiving members con- 9 to the tail I5 of the casing is another buoyancy tained in a stream-lined casing. This casing is chamber and contains air. divided into compartments for the oscillators and The compartment I2 between the two compartpreferably contains, also, an air-tight compartments II and I3 containing the oscillators acts 3'0 ment which acts as a screen between the oscilas an insulating chamber to screen the vibrations lator compartments, and other airtight compartof the transmitting oscillator from the receiving ments acting as buoyancy chambers. oscillator and allows the transmitter and receiver i Further features ofthe invention will be apto be brought close together to enable accurate parent from the accompanying drawing which depth readings to be obtained in shallow water. 35 v illustrates a unit in which separate transmitting The transmitting and receiving members are and receiving members are located in a streamelectro-mechanical oscillators preferably operatlinedcasing for outboard work. ing on the magneto-striction principle and are f In the drawing: indicated by reference numeral I6, and have con- Fig. 1 is a part-sectional elevation, the section ical reflectors I'I which are directed downwardly 40 being taken along line I-I of Fig. 2, and have their open ends resting on the bottom Fig. 2 is a plan, and plate 2 of the casing. At the positions of the Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line III- III reectors two holes are cut in the bottom plate ofuFig. 1. of the casing to allow access to the oscillators 4In the arrangement shown there is an elonand these holes are covered by circular plates I8 45 gated hollow casing I having throughout the which are clamped into position by screws I9 greater part of its length a cross-section similar screwing into base rings 20, and the joints be- [toithat shown in Fig. 3 but gradually decreasing tween the reflectors I'I and the plates I8 are in size from its middle towards each end and made water-tight by means Of jOIli' rings 2l ultimately tapering down to rounded ends at the The circular plates I8 are recessed into the bot- 50 vfront and rear so that it is of stream-lined form. tom of the casing so that they are flush with the The flat bottom of the casing is formed by a flat outside face. The oscillators I6 are attached by plate 2 secured by screws 3 or the like to a frame screwed sleeves 22 to the upper ends of the con- `or rib 4 running round the bottom edge of the ical reflectors I 'I and are held in position by casing or hood I and secured thereto by welding clamping rings 23 secured to sockets 24 so as to 55 assigner of one-half to Henry Hughes & Son Limited, London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Application November 12, 1937, Serial No. 174,273 In Great Britain December 3, 1936 5 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for depth measurement by echo reception methods and particularly to echo sounding apparatus as used by ships for taking soundings of the depth of water (Cl. ISI-0.5)

or the like. A sheet 5 of packing material is interposed between the plate 2 and the frame 4 and this sheet 5 extends over the whole inner surface of the plate 2 so as to form a water-tight form water-tight joints where the oscillators pass through the casing. Each oscillator unit has at its upper end a junction box 25 by which the necessary electrical connections are made with the oscillator windings. The compartments containing the oscillators are filled with fresh water through filling plugs 26.

The casing is supported by means of columns 21 which extend into the compartments IB and lll and are attached to the plates 6 and 9 respectively by means of clamps 28 riveted to the columns 26 and to the plates E and 9. The upper ends of these columns 2'! have screw threads 29 to connect with external supports on the boat on which the apparatus is carried, while provision may also be made for guy lines extending fore and aft to take the strain off the supporting columns. The external supports to which the columns are attached may be secured to hinged deck plates so as to enable the oscillators and their casing to be readily taken out of the water in any emergency.

By building the transmitting and receiving members as a separate unit as above described it is possible to ensure that the oscillators are located in the most suitable position, relative to the ship or boat on which they are carried, according to the circumstances. For instance, in some aspects of survey work, and for boats navigating rivers the most suitable position for the oscillators is one in which they are carried right forward over the stem off a boom, as this enables the oscillators to be put into positions Where the boat could not follow, while for navigation purposes it permits soundings to be taken ahead of the boat. In other cases Where rolling or pitching may be excessive it is possible to arrange that these movements are not communicated to the oscillator unit which can therefore be maintained at a substantially constant depth below the surface. Also it is possible to position the oscillators so as to avoid the blanketing effect set up by aeration which sometimes occurs when the oscillators are placed inboard in the bottom of a motor boat or launch. The stream-lined casing provides proper protection for the oscillator members while reducing the frictional resistance due to their motion through the water.

Obviously, the separate transmitting and receiving members may, in suitable cases, be replaced by a single oscillator member which is used alternately as the transmitter and receiver.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A casing for containing a sound generator and receiver, comprising a hood open at the bottom and curved transversely and tapering longitudinally, transverse partitions secured across the inside of said hood, a at plate secured over the open bottom of the hood to close it, and sealing means interposed between the bottom edge of the hood and said plate.

2. A casing for containing a sound generator and receiver comprising a hood tapering longitudinally towards each end, an opening at the bottom of said hood, transverse partitions secured across the inside of said hood, a flat plate secured over the opening at the bottom of said hood to close it, and supporting members secured to transverse partitions and projecting through said hood.

3. A casing, for containing a sound generator and receiver, comprising a hood of streamlined form, and closed at the bottom by a flat plate, transverse partitions dividing the interior of the casing into compartments, sound directing means in one of said compartments for directing sound through said flat bottom plate, means for mounting an oscillation generator in association with said sound directing means, sound directing' means in another of said compartments to collect sound received through said flat plate, and means for mounting a member responsive to oscillations in association with the second mentioned sound directing means.

4. A casing, for containing a sound generator and receiver, comprising a hood curved transversely and tapered longitudinally, a at plate closing the bottom of said hood, partition plates secured transversely across the inside of the casing dividing the interior into a plurality of sealed compartments, sound directing means Within one of said compartments and consisting of a conical reflector with its large end secured to said bottom plate, means for mounting an oscillation generator at the smaller end of said reector, sound directing means within another of said compartments and consisting of a conical relector with its large -end secured to said bottom plate, means formounting a member responsive to oscillations at the smaller end of the second mentioned reector, means for filling the compartments containing said reectors with liquid, an air-filled compartment between said compartments containing sound directing means, and supporting means projecting at the curved surface of the casing.

5. A casing, for containing a sound generator and receiver, comprising a hood curved transversely and tapered longitudinally, a iat plate closing the bottom of said hood, partition plates secured transversely across the inside of the casing dividing the interior into a plurality of sealed compartments, sound directing means within one of said compartments and consisting of a conical reflector with its large end secured to said bottom plate, means for mounting an oscillation generator at the smaller end of said reflector, sound directing means within another of said compartments and consisting of a conical reector with its large end secured to said bottom plate, means for mounting a member responsive to oscillations at the smaller end of second-mentioned reiiector, means for lling the compartments containing said reflectors with liquid, means for providing an air lled compartment located between said compartments containing sound-directing means, means for providingv buoyancy chambers at each end of the casing, and supporting members in said buoyancy chambers and secured to transverse partitions and projecting through said hood.

ARTHUR JOSEPH HUGHES. 

